He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone. Zechariah 10:1

The rain came during the night. I heard its silky staccato  on the tin roof as I drifted onward into sleep which is so elusive again.  I heard it tap against the window and its wet, soft plopping onto the gravel around the house’s foundation.  I heard it in midnight’s black silent hour and welcomed it’s soothing rhythms.  “Finally”, I thought, “the rain’s come. The powder dry forest floor will get a good soaking and I won’t have to drag out the sprinklers as often and finally, the long hot summer is breaking up. Finally, another seasonal change is here. “ I listened to the rain’s  patter like the hum of an old lullaby and I finally dozed off.  

Morning came and it still rained. The summer palette changed overnight. Every tree and shrub glowed  a brighter green, a more vibrant yellow or crimson red.  Our neighbor’s aspens, sumac and  burning bush exploded with colors rivaling the  maples and oaks of the East coast. Even the scraggly underbrush on the hillsides shows off in the fall.  Massed clouds hung over the mountains already bearing snow in  tallest peaks. Fog trailed the valley in translucent veils of light and shadow. I watched the rain dripping from the eaves and rain chain and as the sun came out, falling rain looked like molten silver threads spun in the heavens. The first quenching autumn rain is a beautiful  blessing from the Lord.

The Bible talks a lot about rain. Biblical lands like Palestine and Judea were rocky and arid  wilderness, Rain meant not only survival but  abundance and blessing. Drought brought deprivation and was considered God’s  judgment on the people for their backsliding.  The Bible warns  about forgetting  God who provides His people and their land both spring and autumn rain in due time.

They do not say in their hearts, ‘Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives the rain in its season, the autumn rain and the spring rain, and keeps for us the weeks appointed for the harvest.’ Jeremiah 5:24

I have had both spring and autumn rains many times in my life. The former rain is the time of blossoming; the latter rain points to the harvest. The year turns as it must and what was is no more. I don’t know if tomorrow’s rains will be a deluge or just a light sprinkling. I do know that God is merciful, good and faithful and He does not close His hands of blessing to His beloveds. Sometimes I forget to acknowledge Jesus, to say in my heart thank you for every rain in its season. 

So today I intentionally look to Him, to Christ who is Lord of the Rain. Thank you for the  autumn rain  and how  you water  my bone dry heart again.